30 Mothers in 30 Days:Telitha

Telitha Matilda Delphia "Tilly"  Herrin was my third great grandmother. She was a Stanly County girl. She was the daughter of Hezekiah Herrin and Amelia "Milly" Hatley. She was the fourth child and first daughter for Hezekiah and Milly. Amelia, the daughter of Hardy Hatley and wife Isabell Foreman, was a girl with a pretty name who apparently liked pretty names. No Mary, Martha or Nancy for her. After 3 boys, it was almost like Milly, uncertain she would never have another daughter, poured all of her favorite names onto one child. 

Telitha Matilda Delphia............Herrin

Tilly was born on Bear Creek, in the northwest corner of Stanly County, nearest its border with Cabarrus. Her father was said to have been a bruiser of a man. Large and domineering, commanding of respect. Tilly was said to have been thick and pretty. A strong farm woman who could milk a cow and drive a plow. 

Tilly had been preceded in the family by brothers Wilson, Wiley and John Franklin. She was not her mothers only girl. Born in 1826, she was followed by Naomi "Omie" the next year and Isabell in 1830, named for her grandmother. A last son, and supposedly his father incarnate, Julious Hezekiah Herrin came after and with the arrival of Elizabeth in 1835, the family was complete. 

Sadly, Elizabeth succombed died young, marrying William Jackson Carter in 1851, at the age of 16 and dying after the birth of her son, William Hershell Carter, the next year at 17. Their mother, Amelia Hatley Herrin, would also die that year.

Tilly, as was the trend of the time, also married young. She would marry at about 18 to William Lambert, son of John Lambert, Jr. and Margaret Almond, who would be known always as "Buck". 

Their first child, a son named Caleb Wiley Lambert, was born in 1846, when Tilly was 20. 

In 1851, Hezekiah Herrin sold 164 acres on Stonly Run Creek to Talitha Lambert. He did not put her husbands name on it. The next year, in 1852, the year his wife died, old Hezekiah was considering his own mortality and wrote his will. In it, he said he had 'conveyed to each of my children the lands I designated to them, to have."Hezekiah had accumulated a sizeable estate by this time, although known as ruthless, he was also kind, and dearly loved his children .

Telitha was a mid-19th century woman, meaning she lived her life within the confines of the 19th century and showed up in all four of those census records that named women and children.

In the 1850 she and Buck are the parents of two children and she is seen as 'Tilla'. Caleb Wiley is 4 and my Second Great Grandfather, Rufus Alexander Lambert, is a 2 year old toddler. Above them is Buck's father, John Jr. and below them is his Aunt, Rebecca Lambert Almond.

By 1860, the family has grown, and Buck and Tilly are in their 30's. You can tell they have now moved to their own property as their neighbors are Loves, Howells and Osbornes. Caleb and Rufus have been joined by 1st daughter, Leah Julia Lambert, John William and Tilly has reverted away from her mother' trend of more unique names to the overused, anonymous names of Mary and Martha.

Now in their 40's, in the 1870 census, the 2 older children have left the nest. Neighbors are Sides, Furrs and Huneycutts.

1880 is the last census for Talitha. She and Buck are now in their 50's. The 1890 census was lost and Tilly didn't make the 20 year jump to the new century and the 1900 census. Matilda was Milly in the 1870 census and Talitha's youngest son, Jonah M. Lambert, has been born. Martin Luther Lambert has a story of his own and I have featured him and his mother before.

Above are the sons of Buck and Tilly Lambert. Third from left is my Second Great Grandfather, Rufus Alexander. While I don't know what Buck, himself, looked like, I would bet that similar scowl his sons share came from him.

Telitha's final resting place is unknown. My bets would be in one of the Lambert cemeteries, perhaps Lambert Number One. Many of the old markers have given way to time and abuse, others just unlegible. Buck lived to 1897. Tilly lost sometime in those span of years between 1880 and 1900

Children of Buck and Tilly Herrin Lambert were:

1846-1913 Caleb Wiley Lambert

1847-1921 Rufus Alexander Lambert

1853-1908 Julia Leah Lambert Eudy

1855-1916 John William Lambert

1857-1935 Mary Catherine Lambert Smith

1859-1902 Martha Elizabeth Lambert Moyle

1862-1926 Sarah Adaline Lambert McLure

1865-1941 Jospehine Lambert Hatley

1868-1910 Matilda Amelia "Milly" Lambert Dunn

1870-1917 Jonah M. Lambert

and son of Buck and Julia Ann Eudy:

1873-1892 Martin Luther Lambert (adopted into the family).

Before they died, Buck and Tilly followed in the footsteps of her father Hezekiah Herrin by deeding property to their children that they wanted them to have.

Tombstone of Buck Lambert in Lambert Cemetery No 1. Tilly is probably nearby.

Happy Mother's Day Grandma Talitha!